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<blockquote data-quote="The Crimson Binome" data-source="post: 7003578" data-attributes="member: 6775031">I disagree. Determining certainty or uncertainty is fundamentally no different than determining the DC... with poor granularity. If I say that flying requires a DC 50 Athletics check, or I say that it's impossible to fly by flapping your arms, then those statements are effectively identical unless you somehow have +30 to Athletics. Note that the example of an impossible check is literally shooting the moon; it's not something you need to evaluate carefully in determining the DC in order to know that the DC is unreachable.If something is impossible, then that just means the DC is so high that there's no point in rolling. If something is automatic, then that means the DC would be so low that there's no point in rolling. Any attempt to determine certainty or uncertainty by another method is prone to introducing inconsistencies, where the DM says the outcome is guaranteed and the game mechanics would disagree.For example, if a door can be automatically kicked down by someone with Strength 20, but someone with Strength 10 cannot possibly kick it down, then that's a situation which is inconsistent with the mechanics that would otherwise apply. Effectively, you would be creating DM fiat as an entirely separate mode of gameplay, rather than having it work together with the ability check system, and the outcome of any situation would depend on which ruleset the DM decides to invoke. (Which goes back to the players not knowing what the rules are, and the game being unplayable.)</blockquote>

[QUOTE="The Crimson Binome, post: 7003578, member: 6775031"] I disagree. Determining certainty or uncertainty is fundamentally no different than determining the DC... with poor granularity. If I say that flying requires a DC 50 Athletics check, or I say that it's impossible to fly by flapping your arms, then those statements are effectively identical [I]unless[/I] you somehow have +30 to Athletics. Note that the example of an impossible check is literally shooting the moon; it's not something you need to evaluate carefully in determining the DC in order to know that the DC is unreachable. If something is impossible, then that just means the DC is so high that there's no point in rolling. If something is automatic, then that means the DC would be so low that there's no point in rolling. Any attempt to determine certainty or uncertainty by another method is prone to introducing inconsistencies, where the DM says the outcome is guaranteed and the game mechanics would disagree. For example, if a door can be automatically kicked down by someone with Strength 20, but someone with Strength 10 cannot possibly kick it down, then that's a situation which is inconsistent with the mechanics that would otherwise apply. Effectively, you would be creating DM fiat as an entirely separate mode of gameplay, rather than having it work together with the ability check system, and the outcome of any situation would depend on [I]which[/I] ruleset the DM decides to invoke. (Which goes back to the players not knowing what the rules are, and the game being unplayable.) [/QUOTE]

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